Playing Parent
by SuperBex
Summary: Elliot needs someone to take Lizzie to her school Parents' Evening, and guess who's there to help... EO
1. Chapter 1

**First of all, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed my Fun at the Fair fic. It was really appreciated. **

**This idea came to me randomly the other day and I had to try to do something with it. I'll be very interested to know what you guys think so keep those reviews coming! **

**This was originally going to be a one-shot but then it got **_**very**_** long so there's going to be another chapter after this one. **

**For Vikki- a belated Christmas present- you really are awesome.

* * *

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"Hey Dad!"

Elliot looked up from the newspaper he had been pretending to read to see his twin son and daughter come through the front door. They had just got in from school and Elliot had endured an extremely rare day off. The Captain had insisted him and Olivia take a vacation day and try as they had to persuade him otherwise, neither of them had been at work that day. Elliot knew most people loved taking a day or two break from the stress of their job, especially if their job was as horrific as Elliot's usually was, but Elliot had hated being stuck at home. Maybe if it had been a weekend and he could have spent time with his children he would have felt differently, but with them at school he had wandered aimlessly around his empty house; bored out of his mind. He had resisted the temptation to call Olivia and ask her round. He was almost certain she would have been as bored as him but just in case she was enjoying the time away from him and the job, he didn't call. He hated to admit it to himself, but the thing he had missed most about going into work that day wasn't catching perps or saving victims (although those things were hugely important to him), it was seeing Olivia. In the years they had worked together, they had grown incredibly close. He couldn't imagine his life without her and he didn't want to. She knew him better than anyone and he prided himself on knowing everything about her. Since Kathy had left him and the children Olivia had saved him from falling apart. She had been his rock and he was sure his family wouldn't be as happy and secure as it was now without her.

"Dad!" Elliot shook his head and concentrated on Dickie and Lizzie standing before him.

"Hey guys, how was school?" He asked.

"Boring, obviously." Dickie said, dropping his oversized school bag on the floor and falling back into one of the chairs.

"It was okay." Lizzie said dismissively.

"You guys want something to eat?" Elliot said, rising from the couch and walking toward the kitchen.

"Yes please!" The twins shouted as he left the room.

When Elliot came back with sandwiches, biscuits and lemonade Lizzie passed him a piece of paper.

"We got these today." She said, her mouth full of chocolate biscuit.

It was a letter from the school.

"Parents' Consultation Evening." He sighed.

"Yeah," Lizzie said, "you've gotta meet with all my teachers and they talk about my grades and stuff."

"I know what Parents' Evening is Lizzie." Elliot said with a smirk.

Dickie reached into his bag and pulled out a rumpled piece of paper which he passed to Elliot. Elliot looked at the identical letter and was about to set them down on the coffee table when he realised the writing on the back.

"What's all this?" He asked, confused.

Lizzie looked up from her sandwich. "Oh, that's the times we need to meet our teachers."

Elliot studied Dickie's times and then Lizzie's and sighed.

"What's wrong Dad?" Dickie asked.

"There's no way I can make all the meetings with both of your teachers." He said. "When your mum was around," both twins winced at the mention of their estranged mother, "I'd go with Dickie and your mum would go with Lizzie. Now it's just me, I don't know what to do."

"Well you can't miss Parents' Evening Dad!" Lizzie exclaimed. She wouldn't admit it to her brother but she had been working extra hard at school in the last year and she wanted her father to listen to her teachers praise her grades.

"You can miss mine." Dickie mumbled. He wasn't all that enthusiastic about school and it showed in his average grades. He was quite content for his dad to miss his teachers' "can do better" mantra.

"I'm not missing anyone's consultations." Elliot said forcefully, with a reassuring smile at Lizzie and a glare at his son. "I'll just have to figure it out."

Elliot stood from the couch and left the room to start dinner, leaving Dickie and Lizzie in the lounge.

Dickie was staring into space but Lizzie had a thoughtful look on her face. Suddenly, a huge grin came over her features and her brother looked at her suspiciously.

"What?" She smiled.

"You're planning something, I can tell." He narrowed his eyes. "What are you up to?"

Lizzie faked an expression of angelic innocence. "Nothing." She grinned.

* * *

The next day Elliot arrived at work after dropping the kids at school, and the Parents' Evening issue was weighing heavily on his mind. He had called the school and they had said that they were completely unable to move any of the twins' appointments. He thought about send Maureen with Lizzie, but she wasn't old enough to act as guardian of Lizzie. He had run out of options.

As he sat down at his desk, Olivia smiled at him from behind her coffee cup, before passing him one of his own. He took a grateful sip of the rich beverage and smiled at Olivia.

"Thanks Liv, I really needed that."

"No worries. I thought you would. Apparently you have a problem with the twins' Parents' Evening?" Olivia replied.

"Yeah. How do you know that?" Elliot said, very confused.

"Lizzie rang me last night." Olivia said calmly. Since Kathy had left and Olivia had spent more time with the Stabler kids, Lizzie had grown very fond of her father's partner and had called Olivia a few times before when she had had problems that she didn't want to talk to her dad about. Elliot liked that Lizzie had Olivia to talk to when she needed a woman's advice and he was glad it was someone he trusted as much as Olivia.

"Oh right, yeah, Dickie and Lizzie have appointments with different teachers at the same time and I don't know how I'm going to make all of them. Before, y'know with Kathy, she went with Lizzie and I went with Dickie but now…" Elliot's voice trailed off and Olivia smiled sympathetically. She knew how hard it had been for Elliot to get used to being a single father.

"Well, that's why Lizzie called." Olivia said. Elliot just looked at her, confused again. He thought Lizzie had called Olivia about something else and the Parents' Evening issue had just come up in conversation. Apparently not. Olivia continued.

"I thought she would have told you, but I guess she didn't. Lizzie asked me to go to Parents' Evening with her, while you went with Dickie." Olivia took another sip of her coffee.

Elliot's mouth opened in shock.

"I can't believe she asked that of you!" He exclaimed. "I'm sorry Liv, I'll talk to her when I get home. I mean, God, that's so… inappropriate."

Olivia seemed taken aback by his outburst.

"I said yes, Elliot." She said simply.

"What?" Elliot was sure he hadn't understood her right.

"I told her I'd go with her." Olivia said. "She was so funny; she had it all worked out. She said we'd tell her teachers that I was her Dad's partner. Then they'd just assume I was your girlfriend but we wouldn't have lied about my relation to Lizzie." Olivia chuckled when she remembered how animated Lizzie had been on the phone because she had worked out a genius plan to solve the problem.

Elliot was astounded. He couldn't believe that his daughter had come up with that little plan. He couldn't believe that she had asked Olivia without checking with him. And most of all, he couldn't believe that Olivia had agreed.

"Elliot? Are you okay?" Olivia asked when Elliot hadn't spoke for a while.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." Elliot stuttered. "Look Liv, I appreciate you trying to help, I really do, but it's not fair to ask you to do something like that."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous Elliot." Olivia countered immediately. "We both know that this is the only way you're going to be able to do this. I'll go to Lizzie's appointments and fill you in afterwards."

Elliot opened his mouth to argue but saw the look on Olivia's face and promptly closed it again. There was no arguing with Olivia Benson when she made up her mind. He nodded and she smiled before returning to her coffee and opening up a file.

* * *

_A week later_

Elliot and Olivia entered the squad room and sank into their respective desk chairs. It had been a difficult- and long- day. A recently paroled rapist, Richard Simms, had launched an attack on his neighbour, a twenty-three year old school teacher, holding her at knife point. The poor woman had been terrified and it had taken SVU all day to negotiate with Simms and get him to release her. The day had taken its toll on the detectives and Elliot and Olivia traded weary smiles across their desks. They had done their job; Simms was in custody and had broken down, giving a full confession of everything.

They looked up as Captain Cragen emerged from his office.

"Good result today people. I just spoke to Casey: Simms is pleading guilty and the defence has agreed that there's no point in a trial. He'll be sentenced next week, Casey thinks he'll get at least twenty." Cragen spoke to Elliot, Olivia, Munch and Fin. All detectives nodded and smiled; glad that justice would be served.

"Now, it's been a long day, so you guys get out of here. We'll deal with the paperwork tomorrow." Cragen said, before heading back to his office.

Olivia turned off her computer and started to pack her personal belongings into her handbag. Elliot saw her rise from her chair and reached for their coats.

"Last chance to back out of this Liv…" Elliot said. It was Dickie and Lizzie's Parents' Consultation Evening that night and Elliot wanted to be sure that Olivia didn't mind going.

"Elliot, stop being ridiculous. I'm still going." Olivia's words were abrupt but Elliot could hear the subtle smile in her voice. He shrugged on his coat and opened out Olivia's for her to put on.

Olivia slipped her arms into the sleeves of her long black coat and Elliot smoothed it down on her shoulders. She could feel her hair stuck in the neck of the coat and reached to free it but Elliot beat her to it. His strong hands swept her hair out of her coat in a smooth, fluid motion. Olivia felt a tingling shiver run down her spine when his fingertips brushed the tender skin of her neck and Elliot delighted in her response. His hands rested a moment too long on her shoulders before his touch left her and he stepped away. Olivia's heart screamed out for his contact until her brain effectively slapped her heart into common sense and she gathered herself enough to start walking.

"Right," Olivia began, her voice sounding strained even to her ears, "what time do I need to be at your's?"

"Well their first meetings are at six, so I suppose half five? But, I can pick you up on the way there."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Olivia asked.

"Of course not Liv." Elliot smiled.

"Okay, I'll see you at half five then." She shot Elliot a parting smile as she left the squad room. After he had finished admiring the sway of her hips as she walked, he too left the squad room and headed home.

* * *

"Dad!" Lizzie shouted from the lounge. "We need to go!"

"Alright, alright. I'll be there in a minute!" Elliot yelled back from his bedroom.

When he entered the room a few minutes later, Lizzie's eyebrows rose into her fringe.

"What?" Elliot asked self-consciously. "Do I look okay?"

"Yeah, more than okay actually." Lizzie replied. "Do you want to look okay?" She smirked at her father's confused face.

"I don't understand Lizzie." He said.

"Yes, you do. You know, same as I do, that it's not a coincidence that you have _never _made any effort with what you wear to Parents' Evening before today, _and_ that Liv happens to be coming with us this time…" Lizzie winked before running out of the room to find her brother- and escape her father.

Elliot's mouth hung in shock. Not because of the idea of him dressing up for Olivia (as much as he tried to dismiss it, he knew that was all too true) but the fact that Lizzie had caught onto it. Then a sudden, horrible, thought hit him; if Lizzie had realised he had dressed up for Olivia, then wouldn't Olivia realise it too? He had wanted her to notice that he looked nice, that was the whole point, but he certainly didn't want her to realise that he had done it to impress her. And that thought only lead to him having to examine why exactly he wanted to impress her- which was an internal battle he couldn't deal with just now.

He shook his head, in a vain attempt to clear his head, just as his son and youngest daughter entered the room. Time to go.

* * *

'_Oh God, what am I going to do? Or rather, what am I going to wear?_'

Olivia Benson was having a crisis moment: a proper, undignified, hysterical and wholly un-Olivia crisis moment. She was actually stressing out about what to wear. She hadn't done that since High School, not even for dates. So why was she worrying about it now? She was going to school Parents' Evening with her partner- who she absolutely, definitely did not have feelings for- and two of his children.

Rationally, she knew she should just wear a pair of jeans and simple top but something was stopping her. She tried to convince herself it was the fact that she hadn't actually been to one of these things since she was the child and had no idea what the appropriate clothing was. She didn't want to look underdressed, or worse; overdressed. If she was truthful to herself for a moment she knew it was really because she wanted to look… different. For Elliot. He always saw her in either plain boring clothes for work or shapeless casual clothes when she looked after the kids. He never saw her in anything nice.

After a few more minutes of frantic thinking, she settled on the idea that it would probably be a smart/casual kind of affair. That meant she could get away with a skirt, she realised with a smile. And a nicer one than the ones she wore for court. She flicked through her wardrobe and found a black, slightly-shorter-than-knee-length skirt that clung to her curves in all the right places. She smiled as she pulled it on. Her eyes widened when she glanced at her watch; Elliot would be there soon. She grabbed a royal blue satin shirt which showed a little more cleavage than her work tops usually did. Examining her reflection in the mirror, she nodded her approval, before quickly chiding herself for acting more like a hormonal teenage girl than a sensible grown woman.

As the buzzer sounded Elliot's arrival she had just finished her hair and she quickly pulled on a pair of black heels and ran down the stairs to the car waiting for her.

Elliot's heart leapt when he saw coming out of the building. Her skirt showed off her gloriously long, slim legs and the bright colour of her top complemented her eyes. She walked gracefully in heels and her now long hair fell in beautiful waves around her face. She had never looked more beautiful to him.

Olivia flashed a warm smile at Elliot as she slipped into the passenger seat of the car.

"Hey Liv." Elliot returned the smile. "You look nice." He said, his voice low because of the children sitting behind them.

Olivia's smile widened, glad that he had noticed the effort. "Thanks. So do you." He was wearing a crisp striped blue shirt that looked, to Olivia, very expensive and the top few buttons were left open, teasing her with a glimpse of his chest.

"Hey Lizzie, Dickie." Olivia said, turning in her seat to smile at the youngest Stablers. Lizzie just smiled back but Olivia could see that she was trying to communicate something telepathically. Lizzie nodded her head in the direction of her father, who was too busy concentrating on the road to notice anything else, and winked. Olivia crinkled her brow in confusion.

"What?" she mouthed at Lizzie.

Lizzie glanced at her father to make sure he wasn't looking. She pointed at Liv and at her father and then drew the shape of a heart in the air. Olivia glared at Lizzie but the young girl knew it was in good humour. She stuck her tongue out at Olivia who mimicked her action before turning back to the front of the car. They rode the rest of the journey to the school in comfortable silence.

* * *

They four of them walked through the front entrance of the school; Dickie and Lizzie ahead, bickering about something or other, and Elliot and Olivia behind, him with his hand resting softly on her back. Elliot had been worried about how Olivia would react when he touched her but he remembered her response to his touch when he had helped her with her coat and placed his hand on her back when they had left the car. She had been surprised at first; physical contact was still rather new for them, but found she enjoyed how protected she felt.

They followed Dickie and Lizzie into a huge sports hall where tables were set out around the edge and seats in the centre.

"We need to sign in Dad." Lizzie said.

"Well go sign in then." He smirked at his daughter. She shot him an evil look before taking off toward a table in the far corner with her brother.

"You're mean sometimes, you know that?" Olivia joked, as she and Elliot tried to find somewhere to sit.

"Yep." Elliot grinned. "And you love me for it."

Olivia's heart did an involuntary somersault at the mention of the word 'love'. She brushed the feeling aside.

"That's what you think…" She smirked.

"Hey!" Elliot exclaimed with mock-indignation.

Olivia laughed and Elliot revelled in the glorious sound he heard so rarely these days.

They finally found a spare couple of seats and sat down to wait for Lizzie and Dickie's first appointment. Opposite them two single dads chatted as their sons were engrossed in their handheld games consoles. One of them glanced up and caught sight of Olivia. He nudged the other man and nodded towards her. The second guy looked at Olivia and grinned at his friend. Elliot felt his anger rise as they blatantly checked her out while he sat right next to her. Sure, she was only his colleague and friend, but they didn't know that; she could be his wife.

Elliot put an arm round Olivia's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Olivia looked up at him, her face a picture of confusion mixed with… panic? Elliot moved his lips closer to her ear and whispered.

"Those guys over there are checking you out." Elliot said, simply.

Olivia looked even more confused. "So?" she whispered back.

"So, you could be my wife for all they know!"

Olivia grinned: he was jealous. _What a great feeling_, she thought. She had made Elliot Stabler jealous. She looked up at the two men opposite them and decided to play along with Elliot's charade. She moved closer to him and placed her hand on his knee. She was sure she heard him gasp. She looked up at him and smiled innocently. Suddenly, Olivia retracted her hand and moved away. He didn't know whether to be annoyed or grateful that Dickie and Lizzie chose that moment to return. On the one hand, his skin burned in yearning for her touch and on the other, he really couldn't get turned on at his kids' school.

"Time for our first meeting Dad." Dickie said unenthusiastically.

"Okay, let's go." Elliot stood up. "You guys know where you're going?" He said to Olivia and Lizzie.

"Yes, Dad." Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"See you later then." He smiled and left with Dickie.

Lizzie smiled up at her father's partner. "Right then Liv, ready to play parent?"

* * *

**Thanks for reading, please review. Xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm still completely overwhelmed by all the reviews I got for the last chapter- thank you so much everyone who sent them! They are so appreciated. **

**This is the longest thing I've ever written for fanfic and it's taken me about 3 hours! I hope you guys enjoy it, and it's not too long. It just didn't seem right cutting into 2 chapters. **

**Thanks again for all the reviews and keep them coming! **

**And Happy New Year Everyone! D

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Lizzie led the way to her first appointment, with Olivia following close behind. Every corridor and classroom they passed was full of parents and children and teachers. Some were engrossed in conversations, some seemingly more pleasant than others, and some waiting to be seen. The majority of people looked bored, as if they wished they could be somewhere else. Olivia didn't understand that. She didn't understand most of it, not being a mother herself, but she was sure if she was every lucky enough to have a child she would cherish these kind of times. As a child her mother rarely came to school events and the few Parents' Consultations Evenings she had been to had been embarrassing to say the least. Olivia had been a bright young girl and an enthusiastic student, finding escape from her troubles in work, as she still did now, and she wanted nothing more than for her mother to listen to her teachers praise and be proud of her daughter. No such luck.

Suddenly, Lizzie had stopped walking. Olivia pushed her sad thoughts from her head and concentrated on Lizzie; this was about her. She smiled at her partner's youngest daughter and they sat together for a few minutes until their time came.

"Which subject is this Lizzie?" Olivia whispered.

"American History." Lizzie whispered back.

"Did you have this teacher last year?" Olivia asked quietly, an idea entering her brain.

"No." Lizzie looked confused.

"So he's never met your mother then?" Lizzie winced at the mention of Kathy.

"No." She replied. Olivia smiled and nodded. Lizzie understood now; if this teacher had met her mother there would be some explaining to do. None of the teachers knew about her mother's estrangement, thankfully, she thought. She checked quickly if any of her other teachers had met her mother and realised fortunately that they hadn't.

"Elizabeth Stabler." Lizzie and Olivia looked up and Lizzie's teacher beckoned them over. As they took their seats across from him, he reached out to shake Olivia's hand.

"I'm Mr Harrison, Elizabeth's American History teacher, nice to meet you Mrs Stabler." He said kindly.

Olivia got half way through returning the sentiment when she realised what he had called her. She glanced at Lizzie, who grinned back at her, and decided not to correct the teacher. Call it woman's intuition, she thought, but something told her that it would only upset Lizzie and complicate matters if she tried to explain the truth. Lizzie was slightly disappointed that she hadn't been able to use her genius plan, but if the teachers were going to do the work for her, then she wasn't complaining. Olivia smiled back at Lizzie and her teacher.

"So, how's my Lizzie been getting on?" Olivia couldn't help the surge of pride that went through her when she said 'my Lizzie'.

"Brilliantly, I'm glad to say." Her teacher began. "She is enthusiastic and attentive in class and her work is always of the highest standard. Her behaviour, as I'm sure you can imagine, is impeccable. I expect great things from Elizabeth." He smiled at Olivia and Lizzie.

Lizzie looked shyly at Olivia. Olivia was so happy to hear that Lizzie was doing well. She put an arm round her shoulder and pulled her to her side.

"That's great, well done honey." Olivia said quietly. Lizzie was so glad that Olivia was there with her and that she seemed to have impressed her. Her mother had never seemed as proud, Lizzie remembered.

They talked for a few more minutes, discussing in more detail Lizzie's grades and what she could do to improve her work. Olivia asked several questions about the work Lizzie had been doing and what she could do to help. Her mother had never been so interested, Lizzie added. Mr Harrison stood as their meeting came to an end.

"So, keep up the great work Elizabeth. And once again, lovely to meet you Mrs Stabler." He said as he shook hands with Olivia again. Olivia couldn't help the involuntary flip that her heart did when she was called Mrs Stabler.

"And yourself Mr Harrison. Thank you." Olivia replied politely.

They exited Mr Harrison's classroom and Lizzie started off down the corridor after checking her appointment list. Lizzie stopped when she saw a young girl her age and they hugged each other. Olivia smiled at Lizzie and her friend.

"Liv this is my friend Ashleigh. Ashleigh, this is… my dad's partner Olivia." Lizzie said, introducing them.

"Nice to meet you Ashleigh." Liv smiled at the young girl. "That's a lovely dress." Ashleigh was wearing a light pink summer dress. She grinned at Olivia.

"Thanks, I got it for my birthday last week." She said excitedly.

"Well happy birthday for last week." Olivia said, smiling warmly.

Lizzie was even happier that Olivia was with her now. Not only did Olivia look much cooler than her mother ever had, but she was so nice to her friend. Lizzie felt proud to be standing with her and loved how in awe of Olivia Ashleigh looked.

"Well we'd better be going Lizzie. Bye Ashleigh." Olivia said as she put her arm around Lizzie.

"Okay. Bye Ash." Lizzie waved at her friend. After a few paces, she turned her head to see Ashleigh still watching them leave. She grinned at her friend who smiled back brightly.

* * *

Lizzie and Olivia saw several more of Lizzie's teachers and the praise kept on coming. It seemed not one teacher had a bad thing to say about Lizzie. Olivia felt so proud to be with Lizzie and for her teachers to think that she was responsible for their little genius. _If only…_ she thought, before realising that was dangerous territory and erasing it from her mind. Olivia couldn't believe how much she was enjoying such a simple thing as Parents' Evening. She never thought that she would be in this position, having resigned herself to that fact that no man could get her away from her job long enough to have a proper relationship and the only one that could was somewhat unattainable. She made the most of this probably once in a lifetime experience; taking in every teacher's words, committing them to her memory, studying every room with great detail, and revelling in the feeling of being a parent, for however short a time it would be.

"Lizzie?" she began, getting the young girl's attention.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"What do you want to do, later in life, I mean? It sounds like you're doing great at school and if you keep working hard you could be anything you want, you know? What do you think you'd like to do?" Olivia asked.

Lizzie was quiet for a moment. Not thinking about what she wanted to do, she knew that already, more deciding whether to tell Olivia; she hadn't told her father yet. She looked at her father's partner and saw the kindness in her eyes and knew she could tell her.

"I wanna be a detective." She said quietly. Olivia grinned.

"Like your father." She stated.

"No." Lizzie said. "Like you." Olivia's eyes widened. Surely Lizzie didn't look up to as some kind of role model? That idea terrified her just as much as it filled her with pride.

"Like me?" she managed to say.

"Yeah, you know, working in SVU and all that." Lizzie shrugged.

"Your father works in SVU." Olivia pointed out.

"I know. But with him it's more about catching the perps you know? You're more about helping the victims. I like that." Lizzie said, looking at the ground awkwardly.

"It's not easy, working in SVU. In fact, most of the time it's damn hard." Olivia admitted. She loved that Lizzie wanted to help victims like she did, but she had to warn her about the pain that came with it.

"I know that. I've seen how hard it's been on you and Dad. But I think it's worth it, you know?" Lizzie looked up at Olivia then. Olivia smiled and put her hand on Lizzie's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know." She nodded. "And I think it's great. Really, I do. I'd be cautious about looking up to me though." Olivia laughed.

"Why?" Lizzie asked puzzled.

"My life's been pretty tough. I'm far from perfect Lizzie." Olivia laughed sadly.

"No one's perfect. And yeah, you had a hard time, but you came through it, right? You're a great detective and you help loads of people. I think it's a pretty good thing to look up to." Lizzie said earnestly.

Olivia's heart warmed. "Thanks Lizzie. That's really nice; I'm very flattered." Olivia pulled the young girl into a hug.

"Elizabeth Stabler." The familiar call rang out in the small classroom. Olivia and Lizzie stood and walked over to a woman, probably in her mid-forties, sitting behind a desk with two chairs set on the other side. The woman rose when they approached.

"I'm Mrs Cullen. I teach Math. Nice to meet you." She said as they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you. I'm…" Olivia glanced at Lizzie who smiled at her. _To hell with it_, Olivia thought. "… Olivia Stabler." Lizzie grinned and Olivia couldn't help but return it. It sounded so great in her ears.

Mrs Cullen went through Lizzie's grades for the year and showered her with more praise. As they were running short of time, Mrs Cullen said:

"The only thing I can suggest to improve your grades is to do more practise at home. But it doesn't have to be boring. You can find Math games and play them with Mum." She suggested. Olivia looked at Lizzie quickly. Olivia knew that Lizzie didn't mind them pretending that she was Elliot's wife but she was worried that not correcting Mrs Cullen about her mother might upset Lizzie. But it seemed that the thought hadn't even crossed Lizzie's mind. She was still looking at her teacher, as she went on about some games she could get. Olivia wasn't sure if it was really a good thing that Lizzie seemed to care so little about her mother.

A couple of minutes later, the meeting was over and Olivia and Lizzie stood.

"So where are we meeting your Dad and Dickie?" Olivia asked as they left the classroom.

"In that big hall we came into at the beginning." Lizzie answered.

"Right, then, lead the way." Olivia smiled.

* * *

They got to the hall and found a couple of seats to wait for Elliot and Dickie. Lizzie's apparent feelings towards her mother still worried Olivia and she decided to discuss it with her before Elliot joined them.

"Lizzie, I'm worried about something." She began.

"What? What's wrong Liv?" Lizzie asked, concerned.

"Nothing's wrong, as such. It's just… you seem to be really angry at your mum." Olivia said.

Lizzie looked away immediately. "I hate her." She said simply, but her voice carried a magnitude of emotions.

"Lizzie, that's a little harsh, don't you think?" Olivia was shocked at the strength of Lizzie's statement.

"She left us, Liv. Not just us kids, but dad too. How could she do that to him? Leave him with four kids to look after on his own. She's supposed to be there for us, but she just left. And even before she left she made Dad's life a misery. She was sure he was having an affair with you y'know. She didn't understand how much his work meant to him. I honestly don't know why he didn't have an affair. Might have stopped him from being so miserable." Lizzie clamped her eyes shut, willing away the tears.

Olivia was unable to speak. She was so shocked by Lizzie's feelings towards her mother and what Kathy had thought about her and Elliot. She would never had an affair with him; she wasn't like that, and neither was he. Olivia wanted to convince Lizzie that she was wrong about Kathy but it wasn't easy considering how much Olivia disliked Kathy herself.

"Look, Lizzie, I understand what you're saying about your mum leaving. I really do. I feel the same way; I think it's awful that way she just left you guys. But I'm sure your mum had her reasons, I'm sure she thought she was doing what's best for you." Olivia wasn't sure of that at all, but she needed something to say to defend Kathy. She couldn't quite understand _why_ she was defending her; she just knew it was the right thing to do.

"I never got on with my mum when I was a kid, or when I grew up really. But she had a lot of problems, and she was a damn sight worse than your mum. Hating her didn't solve the problem, it only made it worse. Don't hate her Lizzie, I know it's easier to hate her than try to understand why she did what she did, but trust me, it only makes things worse for you." Olivia said, finding it hard to talk about her mother and her childhood.

Lizzie looked up at Olivia and a moment of understanding passed between the two of them.

"Thanks Liv." Lizzie said quietly.

"It's okay." Olivia said. "And, umm, what you said about your Dad and I having an affair… we would never have done that. Your father would never be unfaithful, and that's a really good thing."

Lizzie smiled at Olivia. "I know he never did or ever would. Doesn't mean I understand why!" She laughed.

"Lizzie, he wouldn't because he's a good man and he believes in trust and in marriage and… he's just not that kind of guy, okay?"

"Okay, okay. I get it." Lizzie laughed. "What about now?"

"What do you mean? He couldn't have an affair now, he's not with anyone." Olivia said, thoroughly confused.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart!" Lizzie joked. "I meant what about you and Dad now? Are you guys gonna get together now?"

Olivia laughed. "You're crazy Lizzie. I love you, but you're crazy!"

"Oh come on, Liv! Are you telling me you don't like Dad like that?" Lizzie asked incredulously.

"Yeah, just friends okay? Colleagues and friends." Olivia said firmly, trying to convince herself as well as Lizzie.

"Friends with benefits?" Lizzie smirked.

"Elizabeth Stabler!" Olivia exclaimed. She lowered her voice when a few people looked their way. "I don't even want to know how you know that phrase!" she hissed, as Lizzie laughed at her.

"You seriously don't feel anything like that for my Dad?" Lizzie asked.

"No." Olivia lied. "Why?"

"Well I think you've got a problem then. He likes you. Like that." Lizzie said with a worried face.

"Seriously? He told you that?" Olivia said, dropping her guard momentarily and allowing the hope to cross her face. Something which did not go unnoticed by Lizzie.

"Aha, you do like him!" Lizzie exclaimed triumphantly. Olivia sighed; there was no denying it now.

"Okay, I may have _some_ feelings for your father." She admitted. "Now will you _please_ tell me what he said?" She said, sounding far too desperate for her liking.

"Well, it's not really something he said…" Lizzie was worried now; she didn't actually have much to tell Liv, other than what her own intuition told her.

"Lizzie…" Olivia warned. A thought popped helpfully into Lizzie's head.

"You noticed what he was wearing today right?" she said.

_How could I not?_ Olivia thought. "Yeah, what about it?" she replied.

"He never dresses that nice for Parents' Evening." She paused, hoping Olivia would get the message. She still looked confused so Lizzie spelt it out for her. "It was for you Liv."

Olivia felt her mouth drop open. She thought Lizzie must have been mistaken.

"Seriously Liv, I've never seen him as happy as he is when you come round." Lizzie added.

Suddenly, Olivia felt a hand on her shoulder. A strong, but gentle hand. It could only be one person.

"Hey El." She said without turning around, pulling herself together.

"Hey Liv, Lizzie. How'd it go?" He said.

"Great. Really great. You?" Olivia smiled, standing from her chair.

"It was… interesting." Elliot said. Olivia caught the pointed look he sent Dickie's way.

"We ready to go?" Lizzie said.

"Yeah." Elliot nodded. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Lizzie asked.

"You probably just wanna go straight home," Elliot said to Olivia, "but I was thinking maybe we go get some ice cream or a coffee or something." He finished, almost shyly.

"That sounds great." Olivia smiled. Elliot looked relived then and they returned to the car.

* * *

When they got to the café, Olivia headed for a four person table but Lizzie didn't sit down.

"Come on Dickie," she said, pulling on his shirt, "let's sit over here. I don't wanna listen to boring adult conversations about school." Dickie agreed and followed her to a table over the other side of the restaurant.

As Olivia watched them sit down, Lizzie winked at Olivia and smirked. _Sneaky kid_ Olivia thought, and she laughed and Lizzie's cunning ways.

"So, tell me honestly, how did it go with Lizzie?" Elliot said after they had ordered their ice creams.

"Brilliant El. No one had a bad word to say. She's a real smart one. She's gonna be somebody Elliot." Olivia said softly and Elliot loved the pride he thought he heard in her voice.

"What about Dickie?" Olivia asked as the waitress set down their huge ice cream sundaes on the table.

Elliot sighed. "Well, he's not failing; he's not stupid. He just doesn't try hard enough. School really isn't his thing, y'know?"

"Of course you can encourage him to try harder but some kids, they're never going to be academic. He'll find something he's great at- just maybe not a school." Olivia said. Elliot looked up at and smiled.

"Thanks Liv." He held her eye contact and the tension between them was heavy. Neither was able to look away. Elliot lost himself in her eyes and he never wanted to be found. The heat between them built with every second and Olivia wanted nothing but to touch him.

The door opened, sounding the bell above it, and the trance was broken. Elliot and Olivia looked away from each other quickly and avoided eye contact. Olivia swallowed several huge spoonfuls of ice cream, but the cold of the sundae did nothing to cool her heated body.

When Elliot finally looked back at her, he laughed.

"What?" she snapped irritably.

"You have… umm…" Elliot didn't finish his sentence. He just reached over to Olivia and ran his finger along her chin. Olivia's eyes widened and her body froze until he pulled his hand away. A dollop of ice cream covered his fingertip. Olivia felt herself blushing.

"Thanks." She said quietly, thoroughly embarrassed.

"You're welcome." Elliot said, smiling. Then he did something Olivia had not been expecting at all. He put his finger to his lips, his tongue darting out to lick most of the ice cream off of his fingertip. Then he sucked his finger into his mouth, cleaning the last of it away. Olivia watched him, mesmerised, unable to breath or move. It was quite probably the sexiest thing she had ever seen. She swallowed hard and tried to get breathing and heart rate back somewhere near normal.

Elliot watched her reaction carefully and delighted in it. When she looked at him he grinned smugly. He knew it was wrong to tease her, especially when his kids were only a few feet away, but he couldn't resist it. He couldn't resist her.

Olivia's arousal turned to annoyance when she realised he was teasing her. _Two can play at that game…_she thought. She smiled sexily at Elliot and he swallowed hard. He was in for it now.

Olivia swiped some ice cream from her sundae with her index finger and brought it to her lips. She sucked her finger into her mouth, imitating his earlier actions. She kept eye contact with him for a long moment, before closing her eyes.

"Mmm…" she moaned quietly. When she opened her eyes Elliot was staring intently at her, pure lust in his eyes, and he looked like he was sitting _uncomfortably._ Olivia grinned, satisfied with her achievement, but she wasn't finished yet. She swiped some more ice cream onto her finger and held it out across the table. Elliot's eyes widen in shock. He couldn't believe what she was doing. Olivia loved the effect she was having on him and was sure he wouldn't actually do anything now; she would win this little war of theirs. Elliot saw the mischievous glint in her eye and realised she just wanted to beat him. He wouldn't allow that. He leaned across the table and Olivia's mouth fell open. He took her finger into his mouth and cleaned all the ice cream off with his tongue. The roughness of his tongue felt glorious on Olivia's smooth skin.

After what seemed like a lifetime for Olivia, but was actually a few seconds, he released her finger and sat back. The satisfied grin on his face should have made Olivia mad at him but she was far too aroused. And his victory should have made him more arrogant but she was far too gorgeous for that- and besides, he knew she had the power over him every time; he could deny her nothing.

"Dad!" Dickie's voice interrupted the lustful stares being traded across the table as both detectives turned to look at the young boy.

"We've finished our ice cream." He said. Elliot and Olivia looked down at their half eaten sundaes and shared a smirk.

"Okay then, let's go. It's getting late anyway." Elliot said as he stood and threw some cash on the table. Olivia reached for her purse but Elliot grabbed her hand.

"My treat. The least I could do to repay you for coming tonight." Elliot said softly. To his surprise, Olivia nodded without arguing.

* * *

As Elliot drove Olivia back to her apartment, the tension from the café returned. The car felt filled by it and Olivia could barely breathe. They stole glances at each other the whole journey, becoming more frequent as the tension build. Lizzie watched them with great interest; she hoped they would finally admit their obvious feelings for each other. Glancing at her brother, she realised he was oblivious as usual. She didn't know how he didn't feel the tension between them; it was practically suffocating her.

The car slowed to a stop outside Olivia's apartment building. Olivia turned to Elliot and smiled.

"'Night Elliot." She said. Elliot smiled back.

"Good night Liv." Olivia opened the door and got out of the car. Elliot watched her longingly as she walked the steps to her building. Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"Go after her Dad!" she exclaimed. _Adults could be so dense sometimes_ she chuckled to herself.

Elliot turned to protest but he knew she was right. He jumped out of the car and sprinted to catch Olivia before she entered the building.

"Hey Liv!" He said quickly. She turned round.

"Elliot!" Olivia said, surprised.

"Umm, thanks again, for tonight." He said lamely. Now he was standing in front of her, he had no idea what to say. She rolled her eyes at him, reminding him of Lizzie just a minute ago.

"El, I've told you a thousand times that I didn't mind." She sighed.

"I know, I know. I just…" Elliot trailed off. _Actions speak louder than words_ he thought as he bit the proverbial bullet. He stepped closer to Olivia and pulled her into a hug. It was a long second before she recovered from her shock enough to respond by wrapping her arms around him. He pulled her as close to his body as he could, revelling in her heavenly smell and how she felt against him. After a few glorious moments had passed, Elliot pulled away. He smiled at Olivia and was shocked to see the love in her eyes. He tried to step away but she pulled him back. He went gladly. She inched her face closer to his and he could no longer breathe. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it would crash out of her chest.

Finally, she touched her lips to his in a gentle kiss. Through her clouded brain she acknowledged that two of his children were sitting in a car close by, and she couldn't go too far. The kiss was sweet and innocent and their lips fit together perfectly. When air became a problem, they pulled apart and smiled shyly at each other.

"Good night Olivia." Elliot said, as he dropped a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Good night Elliot." She watched him start to walk away but she didn't feel the sense of loss she usually felt; there was a future for them now. A future she rather liked the taste of. She smiled to herself before turning to unlock the door to her building.

Lizzie had watched the whole scene with her mouth and eyes wide open. She was so happy that they had _finally_ done something about their feelings but she couldn't quite believe it all the same. When her shock passed and she saw her father returning to the car, she grinned.

"Looks like Liv isn't going to be _'playing'_ parent for much longer…"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review. Xx**


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